September Savvy
by svufannn1689
Summary: Everyone in highschool. Little bit of a crossover with Criminal Intent, but not much. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, they belong to Dick Wolf and the people who own and write SVU.

A/N: Wow, about time for a new story, guys. This is just a tid bit of crossover with Criminal Intent, but not much. This is going to be a highschool-eraish one, I've kind of wanted to do one for the past few months now but I wasn't really as experienced in writing these stories so I just wrote a basic one before. So here it goes.

"Shit," Casey Novak said as she opened the door to her closet. 'What am I going to wear?' she thought.

It was her first day in a new highschool since she had transferred out of Saint Cecilia's Day school. Her first day in a public high school and she was completely lost on what to wear. She had never needed all that much clothes when she had gone to Saint Cecilia's; they wore uniforms.

"Case?" a woman's voice came through the door in Casey's room.

"Yeah Mom? I'm getting dressed, I'll be ready for breakfast in like 15 minutes."

"Have you already done your hair and your makeup?"

"Yeah," Casey replied as she took down a shirt on a coat hanger in her closet. "Just can't figure out what to wear."

"Okay, well, breakfast is ready when you are," Casey's mom said as she walked out of the doorway.

"Yeah, yeah," Casey said as she pulled on her pair of jeans, snug on her hips. She looked around her closet and settled for a tank top with light pink and white stripes, fitting nicely along her athletic curves, and leaving just a half an inch of bare midriff showing. She looked around for a belt and pulled on a pink and white polka-dotted belt, before taking it off, deciding that the stripes contrasted too much with the polka dots. She fastened on another all pink belt and walked into the bathroom, running the brush through her flat strawberry blonde hair. She put one extra coat of mascara on and decided she looked okay.

Casey wasn't really one for a lot of makeup, but like any other normal 17 year old girl she wore her basic eyeshadow with a little rim of black eyeliner and coat of mascara. She slipped on her flip flops, grabbed her back pack and purse, and headed for the kitchen.

"Morning Case," her mom said as she read the newspaper.

"Morning," Casey replied as she walked to her spot at the breakfast table. She sat down, but didn't really feel hungry. She ate a piece of toast and a bite of an egg before looking at the clock. "Mom, it's 8:25 and school starts at 9:00, so do you think the traffic will be really bad?"

"Good point, Case," Casey's mother said as she turned around to look at the clock as well.

"And I want to get there early to see where my first class is."

"Yeah, you should probably go."

"Alright mom," Casey said as she cleared her plate and grabbed her keys out of her purse and slipped her back pack on.

"I'll call you after school if I'm going to be late or anything, okay?"

"Alright, sweetie, have a good day."

The butterflies in Casey's stomach fluttered faster as she walked to her car. She unlocked the front door to her silver Volvo and climbed in, placing her purse in her lap and her backpack in the passenger seat. She pulled down the street and onto the feeder, stopping at a red light. She looked at the highway in front of her and gaped at the traffic. She was getting even more nervous that she would be late and it would be embarrassing for her. She glanced to the black convertible on her left, where there was a girl in the driver's seat with straight, dirty blonde hair, looking like she was about to claw her eyes out as the boy in the passenger seat chatted away about something. He was big looking, with curly dark hair and bluish/grayish eyes.

Somewhere behind her, a car honked and Casey realized the light had turned green, and she had been distracted. She pulled forward and to the right, and decided to remain on the feeder rather than get caught up in the highway traffic. Besides the minor road blockage, Casey made it to her new highschool in 10 minutes, at 8:40. She followed the signs to the junior parking lot and found a place easily. She turned around to see the same black convertible with the boy and girl pull in to a parking space two cars down.

"Bobby, would you shut up about the history of this school. We've gone here the past two years, I don't really care anymore," the girl said as they walked towards Casey's car as she grabbed her backpack out of the passenger seat and put her purse over her soldier.

"But Alex, it's fascinating," the boy whined. Casey realized he was a lot taller than the girl he was walking with. "Are you new?" the boy asked Casey as he stopped walking, right in front of her car.

"Y-y-yes," Casey stammered.

"Welcome to Lovett highschool, did you know..." the boy named Bobby began to say.

"Ignore him please," Alex said as she cut him off. "I'm Alex," the girl said. "Alex Eames; and this is Bobby Goren."

"Nice to meet you," Casey said as they began to walk towards the school.

"Where did you come from?" Bobby asked.

"Oh, I came from Saint Cecilia's. It's a private school out by..."

"Flushing, I know," Bobby finished.

"How do you know that?" Alex asked, giving Bobby a funny look. "Nevermind," Alex said, waving him off. "I don't want to know, actually."

Bobby just smiled. "Where is your first class?" he asked.

"Let me look," Casey said as she grabbed her schedule out of her jean pocket. "I have Physics first period, room 217," she responded.

"Do you know how the numbering works?" Alex inquired.

"No, not at all."

"Okay well, basically, 100-199 are all on the bottom floor. Then 200-299 are all upstairs. There are lots of hallways branching off from the main one, and they go 1-10, left to right. It's pretty easy actually."

"Oh, so my first class is upstairs, first hall on the right?"

"Exactly," Bobby added as they walked through the front doors.

"Well, our first class is Government, room 149, so we're going to go before the early bell rings. Hopefully we'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye," Casey said as she started up the stairs to her first class. Just as Alex and Bobby, had told her, she found the hallway easily. She began to walk down the hall and looked down at her chipped fingernail polish. 'Ew,' she thought as she began to bite it. Casey was lost in thought when she hit the ground, someone on top of her.

"I'm so sorry," the boy said as he got off of her, helping her up. "My friends are really immature," he added as she looked over to the three boys laughing at their friends.

"Oh no problem," Casey said, fixing the strap on her backpack.

"I'm Elliot by the way," the boy added. He was about 6 foot, with brown hair and crystal blue eyes.

"I'm Casey."

"And those fags over there are..."

"Hey! Who you callin' a fag, man?" A taller black man said, messing up Elliot's hair as he walked over.

"I'm Fin," the boy added, shaking her hand.

"And I'm Brian," another boy added, just as tall with dark brown hair and brown eyes.

It was then that Casey took notice to all three of their jackets. They were football players. "What class do you have now?" Brian asked, taking her schedule from her right hand.

"Physics," Casey said.

"Oh me too," Fin said. "Who's your teacher."

"Letterman," Brian and Elliot said together, both reading over Casey's schedule.

"I heard she's a bitch, man," Elliot said.

"Yeah, well, nothin' I can do about it," Fin said.

"Well, we have English now, so we gotta go," Elliot said as he grabbed Brian by the arm.

"I'll see you later," Brian said with a wink as they began to walk down the hall.

"Please take your seats," a cranky old lady said behind them.

"Yes ma'am," Casey said, as she stiffened up.

Once they were inside the classroom, Fin began to laugh. "Yo you gotta calm down. Teachers here don't really care that much. You new, right?"

"Yeah, I came from Saint Cecilia's."

"Oh, you'll like it here then."

"I hope so," Casey said as they took their seats towards the back of the classroom. The forty five minute class period went by quickly before the bell rang. "What class do you have now?" Fin asked.

"Criminal Justice," Casey responded with a smile.

"What? Why are you taking that class?"

"I like that kind of stuff. I think I want to be a lawyer."

"Whatever, nerd."

Casey laughed. "What class do you have?"

"Sociology AP," Fin replied rather quietly.

"Talk about nerds," Casey said with a smirk.

"I'll see you later," Fin said as he ignored the comment and began to start down the stairs.

'283,' Casey thought to herself as she walked down the hallways, until she finally found hers. 'Gosh, Brian was cute,' she thought to herself as she walked down the busy hallway. 'Then again, so was Elliot,' Casey thought again.

"Excuse me, may I check your schedule," the teacher in front of room 283 asked.

"Oh, yes," Casey said as she handed him her schedule.

"Hi, I'm Mr. Velop, but everyone calls me Mr. V. Have a seat wherever you want."

"Thanks, I will."

Casey walked into the room of teenagers laughing and talking, and noticed a blonde-haired girl with black frames in the corner of the room, checking herself with her compact. Casey took a seat next to her.

"Oh hi," the girl said as she put her compact in her purse. She wore a short jean skirt with a pink polo shirt and pink flip-flops. She had platinum blonde hair and black framed glasses, but was still very beautiful. She had sharp features and a slender body just like hers. "I'm Alex Cabot," the girl said as she held out her hand for hers to shake.

"I'm Casey Novak," Casey replied, returning the handshake.

"Are you new?"

"Yeah, I just transferred from Saint Cecilia's Catholic, in Flushing."

"Welcome to Lovett High."

"Are you buying your lunch?" Abbie asked as they walked down the hall to the cafeteria. They had just come from 4th period French and already Casey was meeting new people. Abbie Carmicheal, who was good friends with Alex C. had been in her 3rd and 4th period classes so they were going to meet Alex for lunch.

"Yeah, I am," Casey responded.

"That's good, so are we," Abbie said as she waved at Alex, who was standing over by the doorway in front of the cafeteria.

"Hey guys," Alex said.

"Hi," Casey said.

"What's for lunch today?" Abbie asked as they stood in line after they grabbed trays.

"Pizza," Alex responded.

"Yummy," Abbie said as they waited.

Once they were seated at the table, and had begun to eat, Casey spotted Alex E. and Bobby sitting at a table nearby, so she waved.

"How do you know Alex Eames and Bobby Goren?" Alex C. asked as she began to cut her pizza, apparently too hot to pick up.

"They parked their cars near mine this morning."

"Oh," Abbie said.

"Yeah, they seemed nice, they told me how the numbering works. I was really nervous this morning."

"Yeah, they're pretty cool," Alex said as she waved at another girl walking towards them with a tray.

"Hey Mel," Alex said.

"Hey girls, who are you?" The young black woman asked.

"I'm Casey."

"Hi, I'm Melinda Warner, but everyone calls me Mel. Are you new?"

"Yeah, I am."

"That's cool," Mel said.

After a few minutes of eating in silence, Abbie spoke up. "Oh there's Olivia," she said while the others smirked.

Casey took notice to Olivia's remarkable features. She had beautiful dark hair and eyes and wore a plain white blouse with a jean skirt and flip flops.

"What's wrong with her?" Casey asked.

"She's kind of a slut," Alex C. said quietly as Olivia walked passed them.

"Oh really?" Casey asked.

"Yeah," Mel cut in. "We used to be really good friends in middle school. Her mom's a drunk and hits her. When I found out she didn't really want to be friends anymore. I think she was embarrassed."

"I would be too," Casey said, feeling genuine sympathy for the girl.

"So did her and Elliot really hook up at the fourth of July party?" Alex C. asked Abbie.

"I don't know, I was there and they were missing for a while, but Brian told me that they did hook up in Elliot's car and they've been hooking up ever since," Abbie said.

"It's probably true," Mel added. Brian and Elliot are good friends, he would know.

"Isn't he dating Kathy Simmons though?" Abbie asked.

"It's off and on I think," Alex C. said.

"Oh," Mel said.

Reviews appreciated guys!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Same 

A/N: Guys...I'm not trying to make Olivia look like a cheap whore. Just give my story a chance.

"Hey Casey! Where are you going?" Alex yelled from down the hall.

"Baseball, why?" she said as Alex caught up to her.

"You play baseball? You're a girl, shouldn't you be playing softball?"

"No, I'm good at baseball," Casey said as the girls began to stroll down the hall, Casey's baseball bag weighing down her right shoulder.

"Oh, you know, Brian Cassidy and Elliot Stabler are on that team. I think Elliot is sooo cute. Have you met them?"

"Yeah, this morning, but don't they play football?"

"The football practices are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Baseball is only on Monday."

"Oh," Casey said as they walked out the doors and to the baseball field. "Do you play any sports?"

"Me and Abbie play soccer," Alex said.

"That's cool," Casey said.

"I was going to see if you wanted to come to my house. Since you're new and all, me and Abbs wanted to hang out, get to know you."

"Sounds like fun," Casey said. "But give me the directions to your house and I'll stop by after, okay?"

"Alright," Alex said. "Once you leave the school gates, take a right and go all the way down about five minutes on the feeder and take a right on Turtle Grove. Go down a few streets on Turtle Grove and take a left on Red Wood. The number of my house is 4692."

"Okay, thanks, see you later," Casey said as she walked into the girls' locker room. She quickly changed into the baseball pants and Nike shirt she had packed. The fitted, spandex, racer-back shirt clung to Casey's skin as she rubbed sun tan lotion on. She had always been a pale child, sunburning at the slightest exposure. She pulled on her black Nike cleats and grabbed her bat, and then headed out to the field.

In the distance she could see the coach checking stats, and a few players seated on the bench.

"Hi, I'm Casey Novak," she said as she approached the coach.

"I'm Coach Cragen, it's always good to see another girl on the team."

"Oh, there's another girl? I thought I was the only one."

"No, this is Olivia Benson."

Casey looked to the confident, yet shy looking girl that the other girls had called a slut at lunch. She had a little shorter than shoulder length hair. It was in layers, and framed nicely around her high cheekbones. Her harsh brown eyes and smooth skin made her incredibly attractive.

"I'm Casey," Casey said holding out her hand.

"Olivia," the girl said, returning the handshake, uneasily.

"Hey! Casey you're on the team?" Brian Cassidy said, jogging up.

"Yeah," Casey replied when he got closer.

"Damn," Brian said, giving her the once over.

"Hey Liv," Elliot said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Case, you're on the team?" Elliot asked, both eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, I am."

"Wow," Elliot said.

"Let's warm up," Coach Cragen yelled to the players on the bench. "I want Liv to pitch to Elliot; Elliot, you bat. Brian, pitch to Casey, Casey, you bat. The rest of you, pick a partner," Coach Cragen yelled. "Let's see how good you are," he said to Casey. "I paired you up with one of our best pitchers. Liv's a pretty good batter, too."

"Alright, Coach, thanks," Casey said as she followed Brian out to the field.

"Ready?" Brian yelled as he stood about 10 feet away from her.

"Yep," Casey yelled as she tightened the grip on her bat; she had always loved baseball.

Brian threw the ball at an alarming rate, and Casey hit it will all of her might. As usual, it slammed right out of the field and disappeared into some trees. She smiled to herself as she took notice to Brian, Elliot, Olivia's, and the rest of the team's reactions.

"Welcome to the team," Cragen said, when he finally got over the shock.

"Nice job, Novak," Brian said, giving her shoulder a squeeze as he jogged over.

"Thanks," Casey said as she blushed.

The rest of practice went smoothly; just a few drills and two laps to cool off at the end of practice.

"Nice job everyone, get some water, and I'll see you all next Monday," Cragen said as he closed out the practice.

Casey skipped the water and began to walk to her car. "Hey, wait!" Olivia called after her.

"Yeah, hey, what's up?" Casey asked as Olivia jogged up next to her.

"You're an amazing batter," Olivia said.

"Thanks," Casey said with a laugh. "You're pretty good yourself."

"Thanks," Olivia said, as they walked off the baseball field, the air becoming brisk.

"Well that's my car," Casey said, expecting live to break off and walk to hers.

"Okay, I'll see you later," Olivia said as she proceeded to walking to the gate.

"Hey, wait," Casey called out. "Where's your car?" she asked when Olivia turned around.

"I don't have one," Olivia said, walking closer, the redness in her cheeks beginning to show. "My family can't really afford it."

"Oh, well I'll take you home," Casey offered.

"Um, it's okay," Olivia said awkwardly, probably embarrassed of Casey seeing the way that Olivia lived.

"No, really, I'll drive you," Casey insisted. "Get in."

"Uh, okay," Olivia said as she walked around to the passenger side of the car.

"You want to go to Sonic?" Casey asked when she started the car and begin to drive towards the exit.

"Sure," Olivia said.

"Alright," Casey said, as she drove down the feeder to the Sonic she had spotted on her way to school. "Gosh, I love Sonic," Casey said, breaking the awkward silence as they pulled into a drive-in parking spot.

"I don't go that much," Olivia said, turning to face the window.

"It's okay, I only go every once in a while. And since you weren't doing anything, I thought you might want to go with me. I'm always hungry after baseball anyways."

"Thanks for inviting me Casey, I feel like I hardly know you."

Casey gasped. "Oh no!" she exclaimed.

"What is it?" Olivia asked.

"Speaking of hardly knowing me, I was supposed to meet up with Alex and Abbie, to get to know them."

"Oh," Olivia said, a little bit thrown back.

"Oh well," Casey said, letting the tension ease. "I'll just tell them I couldn't come."

"You would really rather hang out with me?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, I think you're pretty cool," Casey said, rolling down the window to order.

"Thanks," Olivia said. "I'm starting to like you too."

"What do you want?" Casey asked as she looked over the menu.

"Hmmm...bacon, egg, and cheese toaster sandwich. For some reason that sounds so good to me right now."

Casey laughed. "Alright, Dr. Pepper?"

"Yeah, I love Dr. Pepper."

"Me too!" Casey exclaimed.

"Welcome to Sonic, how may I take your order?" the intercom asked.

"Oh, um yes, can I have a bacon, egg, and cheese toaster sandwich meal, with Dr. Pepper as the drink. And a jumbo popcorn chicken meal, with Dr. Pepper as the drink also."

"Alright, is that going to be all for you today?"

"Could I also have some honey mustard with that?"

"No problem, your total is $5.63, it should be out shortly," said the voice over the intercom before it disappeared.

"Here, let me get my wallet for my half," Olivia said, digging her backpack.

"That's okay," Casey said, "I got it."

"Thanks," Olivia said, smiling at her, mesmerized by the strawberry-blonde's generosity.

Casey and Olivia received their meals shortly later, and parked in the parking lot of a church across the street to eat their food. They made small talk for about 30 minutes, school, life, etc. The subject of boyfriends brought up what Casey wanted to know.

"Hey, you seem like you don't like Abbie or Alex very much. What's wrong with them?"

"They're such gossipers," Olivia said, taking a bite of her sandwich. "I mean, they can be nice and all, but it seems like they have no lives other than to talk smack about people. I don't give a shit though. I mean, if I think someone's cool, I'll hang out with them, regardless who they are or the rumors I've heard."

"That's good," Casey said, dipping her chicken in honey mustard. "They sort of said something about you at lunch today."

"Big surprise," Olivia laughed, taking a drink of her soda. "What'd they say this time?"

"That you're kind of a slut, and that you hook up with Elliot all the time, and he cheats on his girlfriend."

Olivia began to laugh. "Are we talking about Kathy Simmons? That's funny. She's obsessed with him and he hates her. Elliot and me have been best friends since we were in 6th grade. All we have ever done is kiss, I mean, you have to be curious. He is kind of hot."

"Yeah he is," Casey said, giggling at how false the girls' stories had been.

"I would have to be seriously dating Elliot to do anything like that with him though. I wouldn't just hook up with a guy because he wants it. That's not cool with me."

"Wow, that's what I think too. That's so retarded about how Alex and Abbie said that."

"I'm used to it," Olivia said. "They're just jealous because they think he's so hot, but he would never date them, and he's my best friend. They just make up stories to put me down."

Casey smiled at the brunette's confidence. "Ready to go home?" she asked. Olivia drew in a sharp breath. Casey could tell she was not ready to go home.

"There's something you should know about my home life," Olivia said as she moved in her seat, restlessly. "My mom's an alcoholic. When she isn't turning tricks, she hits me, when she's sober enough."

"Wow, Liv, do people know?"

"No," Olivia said, a little bit more at ease with the fact that Casey had not immediately judged her, as others had. "That's mostly where the rumors come from. I keep to myself, only Elliot knows. I don't want people to know about it so I don't talk much. They assume stuff because they don't really know who I am. Sometimes I spend the nights at Elliot, but he has lots of brothers and sisters, so it's hard to rely on that, not that he doesn't try."

"Oh I know, Casey piped up. But hey, my mom and me live alone, in a house, about 15 minutes away from here. We have two guest bedrooms upstairs if you want to come sleep over whenever."

"That's so nice, Case, but I can't ask you to do that for me."

"Really, my mom would love you, there's no problem."

"Thanks," Olivia whispered as they pulled out of the parking lot and Casey followed Olivia's intent directions to her house.

They arrived at a small, one story house, in a rundown neighborhood. Olivia looked uneasily at the house.

"Why don't I walk ya in, okay?" Casey asked.

"It's fine," Olivia said, getting out of the car and picking up her bag.

"No wait," Casey said, getting out of the car. "I'll walk you, really."

"My house is nothing special."

"It's okay, it doesn't need to be," Casey said as they walked.

Olivia walked uneasily to the house and opened it, walking inside to discover that her mother had vomited on the floor twice and she was now passed out on the couch, the remnants of a vodka bottle shattered on the floor.

"Oh Liv," Casey said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Seriously, this is so weird I know, we've only known eachother a few hours, but come sleep over at my house."

Olivia looked around the house and finally agreed. "Let me grab my stuff."

Olivia grabbed her things and they walked out to Casey's car. They rode in silence the whole way to Casey's house.

"I can't believe I made friends so fast," Casey said, pulling the Volvo into the driveway.

"Yeah, you're lucky. I might just have ignored you like everyone else," Olivia laughed as they walked inside, to see Casey's mom reading on the couch.

"Hey mom, this is Olivia. Can she spend the night tonight?"

"Um, sure honey. Hi Olivia, nice to meet you," Casey's mom said, holding out a hand.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm sorry this is such short notice, I'm having some, uh, family problems," Olivia stuttered.

"Oh it's alright, honey," Casey's mom said, noticing the uneasiness in Olivia's voice.

Just then, two little dachshunds came running at Olivia. Olivia reached to pet the two dogs.

"Those are our dogs," Casey said with a smile. "This is Pepper Ann, and this is Patty."

"Did you name them after cartoons?" Olivia asked with a laugh.

"Shut up, I was seven."

"Well girls, I'm going to bed, make yourself at home."

"Thank you so much."

Casey led Olivia to her room on the left, right next to the front door.

"How convenient," Olivia said as Casey opened the door.

Olivia admired Casey's large room, unlike hers. It had a bulletin board with pictures of friends, a dresser, a television, a computer, a mirror, a queen sized bed, and some posters on the walls. Olivia and Casey made small, idle chat before each took showers.

"You're really going to like school," Olivia said to Casey, who was looking at her from the other pillow.

"I bet it will be better than private school," Casey pondered.

"It is," Olivia whispered. "I'm really glad to have found you as a friend," Olivia said. "It was getting lonely."

"Me too. On the first day, also. How weird."

"I know," Olivia said, before they both drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Same 

A/N: Same

"What are you wearing today?" Casey said as she dug through a dresser drawer to find another tank top.

"This," Olivia said, holding up a plain black t-shirt with a little bit of gathered material at the shoulders. She also held up a dark blue jean skirt, and a black belt with diamond rhinestones on it. "What are you wearing?" Olivia asked.

"This," Casey said, pulling an orange tank top with small hearts all over it out of the drawer. She also pulled out some faded jeans with several holes in them.

"Cool," Olivia said as she pulled off her nightshirt, exposing her bra and a small belly button stud.

"Cool jewels," Casey said, pointing to her stomach. "I want mine, but my mom said that it was either my tongue or belly button, so I got my tongue."

"You have a tongue ring?" Olivia inquired, pulling on the shirt.

"Small one," Casey said as she opened up her mouth to reveal a small ball on the surface of her tongue.

"Wow, do you ever like, use it?" Olivia asked, a bit uncomfortable.

"Only once, with my ex-boyfriend, but I don't use it really. I only like the way it looks."

"That's cool."

"Yeah," Casey said, walking to the bathroom to run the straightener through her hair one more time.

After a few seconds, Casey emerged from the bathroom. "Ready to go?" she asked, slipping on her white Old Navy flip-flops.

"Yeah," Olivia said, slipping on the same flip flops, but black.

"I like your shoes," Casey joked.

"Oh thanks, yours too," Olivia teased back.

"Morning Mom," Casey said as she walked in to the two steaming plates of over-easy eggs, bacon, and toast. Cups of chocolate milk lingered beside the hardy breakfast.

"Morning sweetie," Casey's mom said. "Good morning, Olivia."

"Good morning, Ms. Novak," Olivia said, amazed at the breakfast she had prepared. Olivia never got anything like this at home.

"Liv?" Casey asked, already seated. "Sit down," she said, motioning towards the seat in front of her.

"Oh right," Olivia said, uneasily sitting down.

Casey began to eat and Olivia followed. The breakfast was excellent. The eggs tasted of season salt and pepper and the toast was cooked perfectly, not burnt like her mother's had always turned out. The bacon was crispy, and the small talk exchanged between Casey and Olivia and Casey's mother actually felt normal.

When they were finished eating, Casey and Olivia walked to Casey's room where they brushed their teeth. They each grabbed their purses and Casey grabbed her keys off her nightstand.

"Bye Mom!" Casey yelled as they walked out the door to Casey's Volvo.

Casey and Olivia drove to school in mostly silence, until they reached the stoplight and pulled up against the convertible with Bobby and Alex in it. Casey laughed at how she had seen them the day before, Bobby ranting about something useless, like he was doing now. Alex adjusted the knob on the radio, turning the volume up to tune Bobby out.

"Wait, I'm talking!" Bobby said, turning the radio down again.

Casey laughed at the exasperated look on Alex's face as she leaned her face into the palm of her hand, waiting for the light to change.

"Do you know them?" Olivia asked when she noticed Casey's giggles.

"Uh yeah, sort of, I met them yesterday when they parked two spots down from me in the parking lot."

"Oh," Olivia said.

"Do you know them?" Casey returned the question to Olivia as the light changed and Casey stepped on the gas.

"Yeah, well I know Alex, we used to be really good friends. But Bobby kind of freaks me out. I mean he's really cute and all, but he has a tendency for just being weird. Everyone thinks that they should just go out. It's obvious Bobby's really into her."

"Oh, yeah," Casey said, suddenly aware of Bobby's attraction to Alex as they pulled into the school parking lot, where Casey had again, parked two parking places down from Alex.

"Hey Liv!" Alex said as she walked by the car where Olivia and Casey had gathered their things and began walking beside them. Casey caught Bobby looking at Alex's tanned body, fitting nicely into the white tank top with pink spaghetti strap shirt over it. She wore jean capris that had been rolled once at the bottom, apparently because of how short Alex was. She wore a scarce amount of make up, she was very pretty without it, and her hair was pulled into a looped bun in the middle of her head, her very few small bangs hung on the side of her face. Casey presumed she was probably in some sort of water sport like surfing from the way she was tanned.

"Hello Olivia, Cassandra, is it?" Bobby asked as they were walking down the street.

"Ugh, please Bobby, no one calls me that. It's Casey."

"Oh alright, good morning Casey."

"Good morning Bobby," Casey said with a laugh as they walked down the damp assvault, where it had obviously rained the night before.

"Wait, Case, how do you know Liv?" Alex asked. "It's only like, the second day of school."

"We had baseball yesterday," Casey said, opening the door to the school. "And we just decided to hang out after, and she ended up sleeping over."

"Wow, aren't you lucky," Bobby said. "It's so difficult to make friends quickly here."

"Actually, I made a few in my 2nd period yesterday, then we ate lunch together," Casey said as the group stopped in the foyer to talk before the bell rang.

"Who?" Alex and Olivia asked at the same time.

"These girls Alex Cabot, Mel Warner, and Abbie Carmicheal."

"Oh," Olivia and gave Alex a knowing glance.

"What?" Casey asked, feeling as though she had made a mistake.

"Nothing, they're just big gossipers," Alex said.

"Well, actually, Alex Cabot isn't so bad, but Mel and Abbie, ew," Alex said as Mel walked through the doors.

Immediately, Mel spotted Casey talking to Olivia, Alex, and Bobby.

"Hey, Casey," Mel said, walking up. "Come here a sec," she said, pulling on Casey's arm.

Casey walked with Mel until they were out of earshot. "What?" Casey asked.

"Uh, why are you talking to them?"

"Why not?" Casey challenged.

"I told you, you don't want to be associated with Liv. She's a slut," Mel said, her eyes widening at the last part.

"No, she's not," Casey said, firmly standing her ground. "I asked her about what you guys said, and I don't think I've heard bigger bullshit in my life," Casey said, walking away from Mel and back to the group.

"What was that about?" Alex asked.

"Nothing," Casey said, watching Mel walk away, embarrassed. "Just had to take care of a few things."

Alex was nervous walking to Criminal Justice. She didn't want to face Alex C. after she had duked it out with Mel this morning. She knew how these click things worked, they all stood up for eachother.

She reached the door where a good looking man stood, with dark shades on. She wondered why he wore dark shades inside.

"Schedule please?" the man asked, peering over his glasses.

"Um, where's Mr. V.?" Casey asked, handing him her schedule.

"I couldn't be here yesterday, Mr. V. was your sub. I'm Mr. Munch." He said handing her her schedule back. "Have a seat," he said.

"She walked to the seat she had yesterday, where Alex was conversing with a short Asian boy."

"Hey Casey," Alex said. "This is George Huang."

"Hi, George, nice to meet you," Casey said shaking his hand.

"Well Lex, Casey, I have to get to class. I'll see you later," he said, walking out of the classroom to his class across the hall.

"Hey, I know you talked to Mel," Alex C. said casually.

Casey winced, preparing for the verbal beating she was about to receive.

"And I think it's good you finally stood up to Mel and her ridiculous gossip. Abbie's not like that all the time, but sometimes she gets carried away."

Casey turned around with her mouth open. She couldn't believe Alex had actually accepted her standing up to Mel.

"I, for one, like Alex Eames, Bobby Goren, and Olivia Benson. There's nothing wrong with that."

"I'm glad you agree," Casey said, taking her seat.

Just as Casey turned to look to the doorway, she saw Brian slowly walking by. He shot her a wave and a wink, and she smiled in return before she began to blush.

"He likes you, ya know," Alex said.

"What? How do you know?" Casey asked, pretending not to notice.

"His best friend, Fin Tutuola is dating one of my friends, Monique Jeffries and she told me."

"Oh," Casey asked.

"Do you like him?" Alex C. asked.

She hadn't really thought about it that much, just that he was really cute. "Sort of, I guess," Casey said. "I mean, I don't really know him but he's pretty cute."

"Uh huh," Alex C. said, copying the agenda Mr. Munch had begun putting on the board.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Same 

A/N: Same

"So, are you going to tell me the real reason you didn't come over to my house yesterday?" Alex C. finally asked when the bell rang for Criminal Justice to be over.

"Oh, something came up after baseball yesterday," Casey said, not wanting to give up the information about Olivia's mom. "My mom wanted me to come straight home."

"Oh," Alex said as they walked down the hall.

"Well I have Biology," Casey said.

"Oh yeah, you're in this class with Abbie right?"

"Yeah, I should be in Physics since Biology is for freshmen, but I took Physics freshmen year at private school."

"Oh, well, Abbie just kept failing it."

"Really, is she that dumb?"

"No, not really actually, but she never does her work. You practically fail if you get 4 zeros in one marking period."

"True," Casey said, reaching the door to Biology.

"See you at lunch?" Alex C. asked.

"Maybe," Casey said. "I told Liv I'd sit with her."

At lunch, Casey strolled into the cafeteria and glanced around, looking for Olivia. She didn't see her, so she took a seat at the table and waited for her. A few moments later, Olivia walked in and Casey stood up.

"Oh hey Case," Olivia said.

"Hey, do you want to sit with me today?"

"Oh, sure," Olivia said, thinking about all the times she had gone outside to eat because she had no one to sit with. "How's your day going?" she asked as they stood in line.

"It's pretty good, how about yours?"

"It's alright I guess," Olivia said, playing with one of the small diamond studs in her right ear. "By the way, Case, thanks for letting me spend the night last night. I know it was kind of weird and all because we don't know eachother that well, but it was nice, thanks."

"No problem," Casey said, smiling at her progress.

Thursday after school, Casey paced up and down the hallway, waiting for Olivia. She wanted to see if she wanted to spend the night at her house to make t-shirts for their football team to wear to the game the following night.

She finally saw Olivia emerge from her last period class, Spanish.

"Hey Case, what's up?" Olivia asked, pulling her jeans up slightly as they walked.

"Are you going to the game tomorrow?" Casey asked as they walked outside into the mild weather towards Casey's car.

"Maybe, to see Elliot play."

"Do you want to go with me?"

"Sure."

"Do you want to sleep over tonight?" Casey inquired. "I mean, we could make t-shirts for Lovett High so that we can wear them to the game tomorrow."

"Oh, cool idea!" Olivia said as they quickened their pace to her car when it began to sprinkle several raindrops.

"Alright, we'll go pick up your stuff then head back to my house."

"Stop it!" Casey shrieked as Olivia smeared a streak of red fabric paint on Casey's cheek.

"Oh come on, Case, you've already become a blue and red abstract painting," Olivia giggled as she looked at Casey, covered in Lovett High's school colors from head to toe. It was even in her hair.

"Oh yeah? Well you don't look like you have enough on you!" Casey yelled as she smeared some blue in Olivia's short ponytail.

"Girls," Ms. Novak said, coming into the room. "I thought the fabric paint was supposed to go on the fabric?"

"It's more fun to put on Olivia," Casey laughed.

"Hey!" Olivia said as she finger-painted Elliot's football number on the back of her shirt.

"What do you girls want for dinner?" Ms. Novak asked as she looked around the kitchen.

"Pizza," Casey said, finishing the 'T' at the end of 'Lovett.'

"Fine," Ms. Novak said, grabbing the portable phone. "But just this once, because Olivia is here."

"My mom likes to make everything fresh," Casey said to Olivia.

"It's healthier that way!" Ms. Novak shouted as she walked into the living room to place the order.

"What do you girls want on it?" she called to the kitchen a few minutes later.

"Pepperoni and mushrooms!" the girls exclaimed at the same time.

They both began to laugh before Casey spoke. "That's my favorite kind of pizza!"

"Mine too!" Olivia exclaimed. "I thought I was the only one who liked mushrooms."

"Well now you know you're not alone," Casey added before the shriek of her cell phone interrupted the multiple-meaninged heartfelt moment.

"Hello?" Casey answered into her cell phone.

"Hey Case," said the voice on the other line, which belonged to Abbie Carmicheal.

'Who is it?' Olivia mouthed to her.

'Abbie,' she mouthed back. Olivia just nodded in response.

"Hey Abbs, what's up?"

"There's a party after the football game tomorrow night. Just thought I'd let you know."

"Oh cool, I'm going with Liv, we'll stop by. Where is it?"

"Brian Cassidy's house."

Casey's heart skipped a beat as she thought about the cute boy who had been eyeing her all week.

"What's the address," she sputtered out with great effort.

"2162 Sunset Glen. It's in Alex C.'s neighborhood."

"Okay, cool," Casey said. "I'll just mapquest it. Thanks Abbie," Casey finished before hanging up the phone.

"What was that about?" Olivia asked as she laid her t-shirt on the counter to dry.

"There's a party at Brian Cassidy's house tomorrow after the football game.

"Cool," Olivia said, a shy smile creeping up on her face.

"What are you smiling about?" Casey asked her as she poked her in the ribs.

"Nothing," Olivia laughed as she pulled away.

"No seriously, is it because Elliot's going to be there?"

"Yeah," Olivia said, all joking aside.

"You really like him don't you?" Casey asked.

"Yeah, I do."

"Well, tomorrow's your chance."

"Uh huh," Olivia muttered as she screwed the cap back on the red paint.

Friday was going by way too slowly for Casey Novak. She watched the clock as the last 15 minutes of Pre-Calculus ticked away. Time was going by so slowly that she thought the hands on the clock might actually be moving backwards.

Casey leaned her head into the palm of her right hand as the teacher rambled on about a rectangle in a semicircle and what the radius of the rectangle is.

She thought about how cute Brian was and how she couldn't wait until after the football game for the after party.

"Ms. Novak?" the teacher's familiar voice brought her back to math class as she noticed the 26 pairs of eyes suddenly on her.

"Oh, um, the radius is 10 feet," Casey managed.

"Good," Miss Holiday said, turning back to the board just as the bell rang.

"Page 196, 1-52 even!" she called after the students already rushing out of the classroom, and Casey was one of them.

She didn't even bother to wait for Olivia. Once she reached her car, she unlocked the doors and shoved her back pack in the back seat and waited for Olivia. About 2 minutes later, Olivia walked up to her normal parking place.

"Let's go," Casey said, getting in the driver's side.

"Well aren't you in a rush today," Olivia said, getting in the passenger seat.

"I'm excited. I've never been to a football game. And especially not an after party."

"Oh wow, you're going to have so much fun," Olivia said as she stared out the window on the way back to Casey's house.

The girls arrived at Casey's house at about 4:20. Casey practically leaped out of the car with her backpack and hurried inside.

"Whoa, Case, you want to wait up?" Olivia said, pulling her back pack on and shutting the door.

"Sorry, I'm really excited. I want to go change and redo my makeup and straighten my hair so that we can go to Sonic and then go to the game. It starts at 6 right?" Casey asked as she unlocked the front door to the house.

"Yeah," Olivia said as they walked down the hall to Casey's room.

"Good, we'll be gone before my mom gets home."

"You're so bad, Casey," Olivia giggled as she kicked her shoes off. In the short week that they had been friends, Olivia had become so comfortable around Casey.

"Shut up. What are you wearing to the game tonight?" Casey asked, looking through her tops in her closet.

"This," Olivia said, holding up a shimmery black tube top, coming up just high enough to expose her belly button piercing. "I'm only changing shirts," Olivia said.

"Yeah, probably the same with me. What do you think about this?" Casey asked, holding up a red low cut halter, exposing 3 inches of her midriff.

"Cute," Olivia said, pulling off her shirt to put on her "Lovett High Bulldogs" shirt.

Almost two hours later, Casey was screaming at the top of her lungs. "Let's go Bulldogs!" she screamed with Liv screaming next to her. The majority of the game was interesting, she found out Brian's number from Abbie and she screamed her lungs out for number 71 as much as possible.

"See you at the party!" Abbie yelled, getting into Alex C.'s car.

Once Olivia and Casey were in Casey's car, Casey pulled her shirt and bra off and replaced it with her slender halter top. She ruffled up her hair a bit and applied thick rims of black eyeliner around her eyes. Liv did the same with her black tube top and changed her belly ring to a diamond ring with two diamond chains attached, flowing down her stomach.

"Ready to go?" Casey asked Olivia about 20 minutes later.

"Yep," Olivia said, finishing her mascara.

Casey pulled out of the parking lot and onto the highway, following Mapquest's directions to Brian's house. She pulled up into the driveway of the large house several minutes later. She put her car in park and walked up to the door and heard the large music playing from the inside the house.

Casey pulled the door open and was alarmed by the large amounts of people everywhere.

"There's Elliot," Olivia screamed over the noise a few minutes later. "I'm going to go talk to him, okay?" she asked.

"Okay, I'll go find Brian," Casey called back.

She walked through a crowd of drunk football players in search of Brian, but she couldn't find him anywhere.

'How weird,' Casey thought. 'This is his house.'

She climbed the stairs and found a long hallway with many doors. Brian practically lived in a mansion.

She attempted to open the first door on her right, but was interrupted by a large yell of "shut the door!"

Casey moved onto the first door on her left, but it was locked. On the 2nd door on the left, she opened it and found a hall closet, with Brian Cassidy making out with Alex Eames.

"Oh, uh," she said as she stumbled backwards, feeling stupid for everything she had thought of him.

"Wait Casey," Alex E. said as Casey began to walk hurriedly down the hall.

"I don't want to interrupt," Casey said shyly, the frustration beginning to rise up as a lump in her throat.

"Casey wear are you going?" a very drunk Brian Cassidy yelled.

"Ugh!" Casey muttered when Alex E. grabbed her arm.

"Do you like him?" Alex E. asked, clearly feeling guilty.

"Sort of. I mean I thought he was cute and stuff but I didn't really know him," Casey sputtered before the tears of frustration began to come rather quickly. "I mean," Casey said, "I thought he liked me too," she said, exasperated.

"Casey I'm really sorry," Alex E. said sympathetically.

"Just forget this happened, it's fine he's not even worth it. I'd rather be friends with you," Alex said, frustrated with the new news.

"No, Alex, it's fine if you like him or whatever. I barely knew him, I'm making a big deal out of nothing. I'll find someone else," Casey said managing a smile.

"You sure?" Alex asked, placing an arm on her shoulder.

"Yeah, positive," Casey said, smiling again. "See you later," Casey said, turning to walk down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, she noticed Bobby Goren walking around aimlessly. Casey really took notice of his height as she approached him. She wondered why he wasn't playing football. 'Nah,' she thought. 'Bobby's too smart for that.'

"Hey Bobby!" Casey screamed over the noise.

"Cassandra!" Bobby yelled, walking over to her.

"Bobby, I told you it's Casey!" she yelled again.

"What!" Bobby yelled back.

"Let's go outside so I can hear you," Casey said, pointing towards the door.

Bobby nodded as they walked out to Casey's car. Casey got into the back seat and Bobby followed.

"That's much better," Casey said.

"Yeah, God that noise," Bobby muttered as he shook his head. Casey laughed at how mature Bobby was acting. "So, what brings you to this party?" Bobby asked, leaning against the back of the seat.

"Abbie told me about it so me and Liv stopped by."

"Oh that's right, I did see Liv, she was with Elliot talking in the kitchen," Bobby said.

"Yeah, I thought so. Why are you here Bobby? You don't strike me as one of those to come to these kinds of parties."

"Alex brought me along, but she left for Brian Cassidy," Bobby said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh yeah, I saw," Casey said, glumly. "You like her, don't you?" Casey asked as she folded her legs Indian style so that she could face him.

"Me and Alex?" Bobby asked, a bit shocked. "No, she is my best friend and has been for a very long time, but we would never date. Sometimes I think she can not handle me." Bobby said with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"Oh," Casey said, a bit thrown off. She was sure they had a thing for eachother.

"I don't date much," Bobby said, making small patterns with his fingers across his pant leg. "You liked Brian Cassidy, didn't you?" Bobby asked.

"What?" Casey asked, a bit surprised. "How did you know that?"

"I could tell. Your facial expressions when he said hello to you in the halls," Bobby said, then quickly recovering when he noticed Casey's confused look. "I spend a lot of time observing people," Bobby said.

"Oh," Casey said. She noticed Bobby's deep intellect and was surprised by it. She would have figured Bobby would be some kind of nerdy kid in Rocket Science club and the Robotics club, but if you had just seen him one time you would guess he was on the football team. She noticed his dark blue, almost gray eyes watching her, piercing her, and somehow she knew he was evaluating her.

"Open your hand," Bobby said after a few moments of silence passed.

"Um, okay," Casey said, stretching out her palm.

Bobby took her palm and placed it face up in his. He began to trace a line across her palm, just above the center of her palm. This is your heart line. They say if it's deep like yours, you're a deep lover, but you're hurt easily," Bobby said, thoughtfully. "And this," he continued, "this is your head line," he said, tracing the line below the 'heart line'. "This means that you're intelligent, and you're not easily influenced by others. You make decisions that you want to," Bobby said, his eyes coming to reach hers. He slowly moved his fingers up to hers, tracing up her fingers and around the tips, and back down to the dips between each fingers. "Your fingers are long and slender, you're an emotional and aggressive person." Bobby began to lightly draw his finger up her ring finger. "Your ring finger is almost as long as your middle finger, meaning you can be artistic, but you can be wild when you want to be," Bobby said, his eyes traveling up and down her ring finger before moving onto evaluating her pinkie finger. "Now your pinkie finger," Bobby said, running his large index finger up and down her small pinkie, "determines how articulate you are. Yours is longer than average, so you're very articulate, and good at writing," Bobby said, looking up into her eyes at the same time Casey did, their faces more intensely close than Casey was ready for.

Casey hadn't realized how much time had passed until Olivia opened the door to the passenger side and peered into the back seat.

"There you are," Olivia said, before stopping herself. "Oops, did I interrupt something?" Olivia asked as she noticed how close Bobby and Casey were to eachother.

"Not at all," Casey said, pulling back, Bobby's eyes narrowing into hers. "We just came out here because it got too loud and Bobby lost Alex in the crowd."

"Oh," Olivia said. "Are you ready to go home? I'm exhausted," she said, climbing into the passenger seat.

"Oh, yeah, absolutely," Casey said, climbing out of the back seat at the same time Bobby did.

"See you at school on Monday," Casey said to Bobby.

"Bye Cassandra," Bobby said, heading towards the house.

"Bobby, it's Casey, please call me Casey," Casey said, almost laughing.

"Oh, right, Casey."

Casey giggled as she climbed into the driver's side of her car and began to drive towards the road, taking a left before Olivia spoke.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" Olivia inquired.

"Nothing, we just talked for a while," Casey said.

"You know, forget Brian, Bobby's really cute," Olivia said, flipping the dial to find a radio station.

"Yeah, forget Brian," Casey murmured, gripping the steering wheel harder.

"What was that?"

"I said forget Brian," Casey said, a bit louder. "Found him in a closet with Alex Eames."

"Again?" Olivia groaned.

"What do you mean, 'again'?"

"They are an off/on couple. They hook up, go out, then break up so often it's hard to keep up."

"Oh," Casey said, feeling stupid.

"Don't worry about it," Olivia said, patting Casey on the arm.

"I'm not, Alex and I talked. I don't really care, I barely knew him anyway."

"That's good. But seriously Case, Bobby's so cute."

"But weird," Casey said, shifting lanes.

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked as they pulled up to a stoplight.

"He read my palm," Casey said, scratching at her head.

Olivia began to laugh. "Yeah, Bobby is like that in so many weird ways. But you gotta love him," she said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Casey said, some of the stress lifted off her shoulders. "So you want to tell me what happened with you and Elliot?"

Olivia began to smile. "We talked for a really long time and that's it. I wasn't interested in a hook up, but he asked me on a date, next weekend. He said he's liked me for a long time and he wants to actually get serious this time."

"I take it you guys have been around this block before?"

"Yeah, we've had a couple dates, but it's never worked out. He says this time he wants it too."

"Well, Elliot doesn't seem like the type to lie about that kind of stuff, so I would go for it."

"I think I will," Olivia said, looking out the window. Meanwhile, Casey sat and thought about her strange encounter with the mysterious Bobby Goren.


	5. Chapter 5 part 1 of Friday night

Disclaimer: Same 

A/N: Same

Casey Novak sat in 2nd period Economics, listening to Mr. Raffle ramble on about how the gas prices have increased. She had parked in a different spot this morning, not sure of how to react to Bobby, he was very strange, after all. She couldn't remember for how long she had been day dreaming when the fire alarm went off.

"Okay everyone, out to the field," Mr. Raffle said with a disappointed face that the fire drill had put an end to his tirade.

Casey walked behind the girl in front of her, Holly, when she heard her name being called from behind.

"Hey Case! Wait up!" Alex Eames said, running to catch up to her side.

"What's up?" Casey said casually, still a little ticked about the incident Friday night.

"We're still cool right? I honestly didn't mean a thing by it."

"Yeah, Alex, I told you, we're fine, really," Casey said, descending down the stairs towards the back exit to the field.

"What happened with you and Bobby on Friday night?" Alex inquired, her gold shoulder-length hair glistening as they walked towards the field.

"Uh, nothing. What do you mean?" Casey asked, caught off guard.

"Bobby has been talking about you incessantly. He likes you."

"How do you know?" Casey asked, her stomach fluttering a bit.

"I've known Bobby forever. I've been there for his many girlfriends."

"Oh really?" Casey asked. "Does he date a lot?"

"He used to. But nothing ever lasted," Alex said, stopping under a tree until the all clear bell rang. "No one could tolerate Bobby."

Casey laughed. "He does talk a lot."

"Not that," Alex said, shaking her head. "He's so...so smart. He's very serious also. When he gets into a relationship, he's very realistic about it. None of that highschool puppy love shit."

"Oh," Casey said, admiring the idea that she had met someone so down to earth.

"Hello," came the voice of Bobby Goren, behind Casey. She jumped as he laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Oh Jesus Bobby, you scared the hell out of me," Casey said, not sure of what to say.

"Hey, I'm going to go talk to Monique. I'll see you guys later," Alex said, quickly making her exit.

Before Casey could open her mouth, Bobby didn't miss a beat. "Alex told me everything that happened on Friday night. With Brian."

"Oh," Casey said, a bit embarrassed. "I didn't really like him, I uh, just, thought he was cute or whatever," Casey stuttered, shuffling her feet.

"Oh," Bobby said, watching her intently. "Do you shuffle your feet when you're nervous?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, how did you know that?" Casey asked, feeling a bit violated.

"I just know," Bobby said before an awkward silence filled the moment. "You know, Alex really meant no harm..."

"I know!" Casey yelled, frustrated at the issue this had been made into.

"Oh well, sorry," Bobby said, feeling awkward.

"No, Bobby, it's my fault, really," Casey said, making a quick recovery. "Just, Alex said sorry already like 3 times, it really wasn't even that big of a deal. I had barely even talked to him, I didn't have real feelings for him," she said as the all clear bell rang and her and Bobby began to walk back.

"Oh, gotcha," Bobby said.

"Yeah, thanks for understanding," Casey said.

"No problem," Bobby said, opening the door for her. "Well," Bobby began a new sentence as they climbed the stairs. "Early dismissal today for parent teacher conferences. Do you want to get together and rent a movie or something?"

"Uh, um," Casey pondered, completely shocked at the sudden proposal. "Sure," she finally sputtered out. "Do you want to come over at 2:00?"

"Sure," Bobby said. "What are the directions to your house."

Casey quickly scribbled the directions down on Bobby's hand with a pen outside her classroom. She had just finished writing down her cell phone number when Mr. Raffle stepped outside.

"Ms. Novak, could we please save the teenage romance until noon when you're dismissed?"

Casey began to blush a deep red color as she apologized. "Sorry Mr. Raffle," she said, walking inside the classroom.

'See you later,' she mouthed to Bobby, who just smiled.

"Hi Bobby," Casey said to her mirror. "Hey Bobby," she repeated, in a more casual voice. "Why are you making this a big deal?" she said to herself, walking to the bathroom. "This is not a dramatic first date. This is me and Bobby taking time to get to know eachother. Not a date."

Casey grabbed the horror movie from her bedroom floor and set it on top of the DVD player when the doorbell rang. She glanced at the clock. Exactly 2:00 PM.

"Hey Bobby," Casey said, opening the door.

"Hi," Bobby said, walking inside after her.

"Is that your car?" Casey asked, looking at the Ford F150 in her driveway.

"Yeah," Bobby responded, facing her in the entryway as she shut the door.

"Why don't you drive to school then?"

"Well, Alex drives me because I help her with her math homework. It's our little exchange."

"Oh, do you guys live in the same neighborhood then?" Casey said, leading Bobby to her room, shutting the door behind her.

"Sort of," Bobby chuckled. "We're neighbors."

"Oh," Casey laughed; she felt better as the mood lightened.

"Um," Bobby said, his gaze narrowing on something behind Casey.

"What?" Casey asked, turning around, realizing that the object he was staring at was her white and pink polka dot bra. "Oh, oops," Casey said, blushing as she picked up the under garment and placed it in her dirty clothes hamper.

"No big deal," Bobby said, picking the movie up on top of her DVD player. "Is this what we're watching?"

"Yes," Casey said, walking back to sit on the bed while Bobby loaded the DVD in the DVD player.

"A scary movie? Well Casey Novak, if I didn't know better, I would think you were up to something," Bobby said with a grin.

Casey blushed slightly, returning the sly comment. "Well you don't know better, do you Bobby?"

Bobby's grin only widened as he removed his shoes to sit on the bed next to her as the movie began.

"Is your mom home?" Bobby asked.

"Nope, she works late on Mondays. She won't be home till 9:00."

"Oh, so I take it your 3 week progress reports were good since your mom isn't going the conferences."

"Yeah, all A's two B's. You?"

"About the same," Bobby said, settling back against the bed post, the inches closing between them.

About 45 minutes into the movie, the climax of the movie began to highten. Casey grabbed Bobby's hand as the main character discovered the dead body of her husband in the basement.

"Are you okay?" Bobby asked, turning to face her. "You're sort of cutting off my circulation," Bobby said with a slight laugh.

"Oh yeah," Casey said, flushing slightly, "sorry," she finished as she withdrew her hand.

"It's fine," Casey said, turning her attention back to the movie.

"Hey," Casey said to Alex Cabot as she sat down next to her in Criminal Justice.

"Hey," Alex said, turning to face Casey, opening her mouth just as Mr. Munch cut her off.

"Class, turn your attention towards me please, that means you, Ms. Cabot, save the conversation for later," Mr. Munch said, turning to face the chalkboard. "Today we will be discussing the roles of Sex Crimes detectives..." he said as she felt Alex poke her arm. Casey turned to face her and saw Alex holding out a neatly folded note.

Casey unfolded the note and read the careful and elegant handwriting. 'I heard you and Bobby Goren are dating,' the note said.

Casey shook her head at how amazing the rumors were at public school between such a tight-knit group of friends.

'We're not dating. He just came over and watched a movie with me at my house on Monday night. No big,' Casey wrote back before she handed the note back to Alex.

'Well Alex Eames told me that he's going to ask you to the movies again on tomorrow night,' the note said back. Casey had just read the note before she saw a hand snatch it up from her desk. 'Uh oh,' she thought as Mr. Munch brought it to the front of the class and unfolded it as he began to read it aloud.

"Girls, please save the chit chat for after class," Mr. Munch said as Casey sank into her seat, trying to stifle her nervous giggles.

"So, after he picked up your note, did you talk to Alex C. anymore?" Olivia asked as they ate their sandwiches on the lawn outside of the cafeteria.

"Yeah, she just said that she heard from Alex E. that he's supposed to ask me to the movies again for tomorrow night."

"Wow, someone's got a hot Friday night date," Olivia said with a laugh as Casey blushed.

"Oh shut up, Liv, it's not like you don't either. Aren't you going out to eat with Elliot tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Olivia said, picking up a Cheeto and popping it in her mouth. "We're going to that new Italian restaurant on the corner of Fatchel and Beaumont."

"Ooh la la," Casey said, laughing. "Sounds like a little black dress affair to me," Casey said as Olivia swatted her leg playfully.

"You're so immature sometimes," Olivia said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh you want immature? Olivia's got a boyfriend! Olivia's got a boyfriend!" Casey chanted as Olivia laughed.

"Hey there's Bobby, he's walking over here. Shhh," she said quietly.

"Hey Case," Bobby said, sitting down next to her.

"Hey Bobby," Casey said enthusiastically; since their get together on Monday afternoon Casey and Bobby had become good friends, including talking on the phone.

"What are you ladies up to?" Bobby said, leaning on his elbow as he laid sideways.

"Um, lunch," Casey giggled. "What else would we be up to?"

"Oh I don't know," Bobby said with a nod. "Discussing this weekend."

Casey was amazed at how he knew exactly what she was doing all the time. "Yeah, we were sort of talking about that."

"What are you doing this weekend?" Bobby inquired with a smile.

"Nothing so far," Casey said casually.

"Do you want to go out tomorrow?" Bobby asked confidently.

"Sure, what do you want to do?" Casey asked, looking at her nails as if they were the most fascinating things in the world.

"It's a surprise," Bobby said, getting to his feet as the bell rang.

"How did you know I would consent?" Casey asked secretively.

"I didn't need to," Bobby said as he walked towards the building and Casey and Olivia began to pack up their lunch.

"Please tell me where we're going," Casey said as she began to get frantic when she saw the city limits sign and the Manhattan lights got smaller as they drove.

"Just trust me," Bobby said, glancing behind him to shift lanes.

"Well alright," Casey said uneasily as she looked out the window.

After ten minutes had passed, Bobby made an exit and turned right at a light. He pulled into a parking lot of a large, one-story building with a light-up sign that read "Real Wheels."

"Bobby what is this?" Casey asked as Bobby got out of the car and she glanced at her watch, which read 8:15.

"We're going to roller blade," Bobby said, opening her car door for her and locking his truck.

"What!" Casey asked as mental pictures of her falling popped into her head.

"Yeah, I used to go here all the time with my mom when I was younger, before she left."

"Where's your mom now?" Casey asked as they entered the park.

"She has a rare disease and is at a hospital in Queens," Bobby said a bit quietly.

"Oh," Casey said. "I suck at roller blading, you will have to help me," she said, quickly changing the subject.

"Alright," Bobby said as he walked up and ordered skates for the two of them.

Casey put hers on and started to stand, but wobbled a bit and fell back onto the bench where Bobby finished.

"Easy there," he said, putting his right arm around her waist and his left hand in hers, pulling her towards the rink where several other teenagers skated as well.

"Thanks," Casey said, relaxing into Bobby's grip. He smelled a lot like laundry detergent and some cologne she couldn't quite identify.

The skated several laps around the rink until Casey became comfortable and only needed the comfort of Bobby's right hand in her left hand.

"So Alex said you don't date much," Casey said, striking up the dull conversation.

"Not so much as I used to," Bobby said. "It's hard to find someone compatible in such a stereotypical school."

"Yeah," Casey said, thinking back to her days at private school and how she had only dated once.

"It seems like everyone is one way, there are no mixes of the cliques, except for you. You seem sporty yet preppy yet wild at the same time."

"Thanks for the analysis of who I am," Casey said with a laugh.

"What can I say?" Bobby shrugged. "I'm a very observant person."

"And how do you know I'm wild?" Casey wondered as they rounded the rink again.

"That small metal object puncturing your linguistic muscle inside your mouth, better known as your tongue," Bobby said confidently.

"How did you notice? It's so small," Casey said, a bit flustered.

"Like I said, I'm a very observant person."

Casey and Bobby skated for the next half hour before they decided to call it a night at about 9:30.

"Ready to drive back?" Bobby asked, grabbing Casey's hand as they walked out to his car.

"More or less," Casey said with a shrug as he opened the car door for her.

"What do you mean?" Bobby asked.

"Well it's only 9:30," Casey said as they backed out of the parking lot with a smile on her face.

"I know," Bobby said as he began to drive back towards the city. "But what else would you like to do?"

"Hm, I don't know," Casey said with a slight smile on her face. Bobby just gave her a half smile and an awkward silence followed.

When they pulled up in front of Casey's house at 10:00 PM, Bobby was the first to speak.

"See you on Monday," Bobby said.

Casey made a frown as he initiated the depart.

"Eventually," Bobby said, knowing she wanted just a slight step towards the first kiss.

"I know," Casey sighed. "Thanks for tonight, I had fun," she said, forcing a smile.

"See you later," Bobby said, watching her get inside her house.

"Bobby Goren," Casey muttered walking to her room. "Our first kiss better be good."


	6. Chapter 6 part 2 of friday night,etc

Disclaimer: Same

A/N: Same 

Casey brushed her hair and pulled it up into a loose bun as she removed her make up with a washcloth.

'Well,' Casey thought as she recalled the events of this evening with Bobby. 'I hope Olivia's date went better than mine.'

"Stabler, table for two," Elliot said to the hostess as he and Olivia entered the restaurant.

"Right this way," the hostess said, taking them to a booth at the back corner of the restaurant. "Enjoy your meal," the hostess said as she handed them both menus and walked back to her stand at the front of the restaurant.

"This is nice," Olivia said, admiring the atmosphere of the small restaurant.

"Yeah, it really is," Elliot said, staring at Olivia's stunning appearance. She wore a short denim skirt with a strapless black shirt that had black sequins lining the top. The shirt came down just below the waistband, which hung low on her hip. The skirt, only coming to her mid thigh, exposed her nice tan legs, accented a pair of shimmery flip-flops. Her makeup was flawless as usual, and her hair was partly pinned up with bobby pins in a bit of a messy bun.

"So," Elliot said, taking a sip of water. "I'm assuming junior year is better for you than sophomore year right?"

"Definitely," Olivia said, setting her menu down in front of her.

"You opened up a lot this year, didn't you? I mean, you've got way more friends."

"Yeah, but that's all thanks to Casey."

The conversation came to a pause as they each ordered and Elliot began to continue.

"Yeah, if Casey had never been in baseball you wouldn't be talking to Alex Cabot or any of them like you do now."

"That's true, I really am glad Casey came."

"Speaking of Casey, where is she tonight?" Elliot asked, cutting into his veil parmesan that the waitress had set in front of him.

"She's on a date," Olivia said with a sneaky smile.

"No way," Elliot said, returning the smile. "With who?"

"Bobby Goren," Olivia said, her smile widening as she twirled her Fettuccine around her fork.

"How does she stand him?" Elliot asked with a chuckle.

"I don't know, Casey's got many personalities. She's silly like most girls but intellectual like Bobby."

"Hm," Elliot said, taking a bite. "Explains a lot."

After a few minutes of silence, Olivia brought up a point she had been meaning to make.

"So, whatever happened with Kathy?" Olivia asked.

"We broke up, but she couldn't let go. She wanted to be friends, but she called me obsessively."

"Oh," Olivia said, laying back against the booth.

"Did you guys really have sex?"

"Yes," Elliot replied quietly. "We both were really drunk," Elliot said. "It didn't mean anything."

"Oh," Olivia said, feeling as though the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders.

Elliot walked from his place at the table and slid into the same side of the booth she was sitting in.

"Olivia," Elliot whispered into her hair as he placed his hand on her knee.

"Yes?" Olivia said, unsure of what was happening as the distance closed between their lips.

"I've liked you for such a long time," Elliot said, speaking directly to her. "But I think now I'm finally ready to be serious about us."

"Yeah," Olivia whispered softly, placing her hand on his chest.

"Do you want to go out with me?" Elliot asked, only one inch remaining.

Olivia closed the distance between them softly and sealed the deal with a kiss.

"Is that a yes?" Elliot asked with a smile when he pulled away.

"You bet," Olivia said as he grabbed the check and tossed a few bills on the table.

Thirty minutes later, Elliot pulled his Crowne Victoria up in front of Olivia's house.

"You sure you don't want to spend the night?" Elliot asked, attempting to increase the sexual meaning.

"I'm fine El," Olivia said with a smile. "Call me tomorrow, okay?" Olivia asked as Elliot nodded.

"See ya," Olivia said, giving Elliot one final kiss goodnight.

Casey distracted herself from the movie on TV when her phone's sharp ring pierced the air.

"Hello?" Casey said as she saw that it was Olivia.

"Hey," Olivia said, a hint of enthusiasm in her voice.

"How was your date?" Casey asked, turning off the TV so she could better hear Olivia.

"Perfect," Olivia said with a sigh. "We're together now."

"No way!" Casey exclaimed, climbing onto her bed and laying on her stomach.

"Yes way. He was really sweet the whole night. How was your's and Bobby's date?"

Casey's eyebrows furrowed at the mention of their date.

"Confusing," Casey said.

"What?" Olivia asked.

"We didn't kiss. He didn't want to," Casey said, confused.

"Maybe he doesn't want to rush things," Olivia suggested.

"I hope that's it," Casey said with an exasperated sigh.

"Hey, Case," Olivia said. "It will happen when it's meant to be."

"Why thank you, fortune cookie Olivia."

Olivia suppressed a laugh at Casey's funny joke. "Talk to you tomorrow," Olivia said.

"Later," Casey said, closing her flip phone.

"So there's this new outlet mall opening up just outside of Westchester," Casey said to Bobby as they walked ahead of Olivia and Alex Eames.

"Really?" Bobby asked as they walked across the front lawn of Lovett High on a dreary Monday morning. "Did you know that the mall in Manhattan just 15 minutes away has been open since 1994? That's interesting because the shops are so current. I think they switch them every so often," Bobby rambled as they walked up the stairs.

"Fascinating," Casey said sarcastically as Bobby began to laugh.

"Do you want to go to the movies tomorrow night?" Bobby asked as they walked inside the foyer.

"Sure," Casey said casually, excited that this might be the first kiss. I mean, it was the third time they had been alone together, right?

"And maybe the new mall this weekend?" Bobby said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Casey said, happy with the increasing time they were spending together. "See you later," Casey said as the bell rang.

"Wait," Bobby said, putting an arm around her waist as she began to walk away. He pulled her into a hug and then pulled away. "Now I'll see you later."

"Hey!" Abbie said when Casey walked into Biology.

"Hey Abbie," Casey said, sliding into the desk behind her.

"Did you really go on a date with Bobby Goren this past weekend?"

"Yeah," Casey said, smiling.

"Wow," Abbie said, a hint of jealousy in her voice. "He's really cute. I went on a date with him last year."

"Oh," Casey said with a smirk, thinking about how that must have gone over. "We'll were going to the movies tomorrow night and that new mall in Westchester this weekend."

"Oh really," Abbie said, her eyes narrowing.

"Yeah," Casey said, sensing the tension and giving up the silent battle.

"Hey Monique!" Abbie said as Monique Jefferies walked in. "Come sit over here," she said, indicating to the desk next to her.

Casey rolled her eyes at the immaturity of this gesture, and Monique began to laugh , realizing how Abbie was acting.

"Hey Abbie, what's up Casey?" Monique said as she sat down in the seat next to Abbie.

"Nothing," Casey said, tracing patterns across her desk. "What did you do this weekend, Monique?"

"Me and Fin went to the movies on Saturday night, that's it."

"That's cool," Abbie said, jumping into the conversation.

Casey felt her phone vibrate in her jacket pocket and she pulled it out. '1 new text message,' the screen said. She opened her phone to see the text message was from Bobby.

'i bet abbie is a lotta fun right now in bio, right?' Casey read. 'What the hell?' she thought as she read the text message 'How does he know?'

Just then, she got another text message as her phone vibrated again.

'look up,' she read. Casey looked up and glanced out the door window, where Bobby was standing. 'Oh,' she thought with a chuckle before hitting the reply button her cell phone.

'you scared me, i didnt kno u were out there,' Casey texted back before noticing Bobby had left the hall.

'haha. it looked like abbie was getting on ur nerves,' said the next message.

'did u guys date last year? she seems jealous.'

'only once, shes really domineering tho.'

'ya, ive noticed.'

'ur baseball game is 2day?'

'yes.'

'is it a home game?'

'yes.'

'i'll be there.'

"Casey! Grab a ball and warm up, the game is in 20 minutes. Cassidy, you're with Novak," Cragen yelled.

Casey kept her shock under control as she walked behind Brian out to the field. They had never talked about that night after it had happened.

"I'll pitch," Brian threw over his shoulder casually.

"Good," Casey muttered under her breath before glancing over at the bleachers and noticed that Bobby was seated there. She waved to him before looking back at Brian, who was adjusting his mit.

"Ready?" he called from down the field.

"Ready!" Casey yelled enthusiastically as Brian threw the ball.

She hit the ball with extreme force, out of anger and frustration and watched the ball make direct contact with Brian Cassidy's nose, who fell over, his eyes tearing, the blood spilling from his nostrils.

"Oops," Casey said with a giggle, not sure of what to do as Brian cried on the field 10 feet in front of her.

"Quick! Benson, get some ice!" Cragen yelled as he ran over to look at Brian's bloody nose.

Casey walked over to where Brian lay and then glanced up at Bobby, who shrugged; she noticed him chuckle a little bit.

"Coach Cragen, Brian, I am so sorry," Casey said apologetically as Cragen held a towel up to his nose.

"It's okay, we know it was an accident," Coach Cragen said, helping Brian to his feet, who glared at Casey.

"Alright people, change of plans," Cragen said as Brian sat down on the bench, frustrated, while Casey held her bat confidently, standing next to Olivia, who was attempting to with hold her laughter. "Stabler, you're going to start as pitcher. Novak, batter. Let's move people!" Cragen yelled as game began and Casey jogged out.

The first ball was a breeze, home run, but who could expect less? Baseball was Casey's passion.

They ended up winning the game, 22-0.

"You were great out there," Bobby said, putting an arm around her as they walked to Casey's car.

"Thanks," Casey said as she admired Bobby's protections over her. "But I especially loved that move you did on Brian when you guys were warming up. Broken in two places," Bobby said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I know. I really didn't mean to hit him though. It just sort of happened."

"I better watch myself and breaking your heart then, shouldn't I?"

"No! I'm not that mean," Casey said with a laugh. "Anyways, do you want me to take you home?"

"If you don't mind," Bobby said, walking to the passenger side.

"Of course not, your neighborhood is what, like, two down from mine?"

"True," Bobby said as Casey backed out of the parking space. "Just making sure," he said, placing a hand on her knee.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Same

A/N: Same 

"No way," Olivia said, shaking her head when Casey told her that they hadn't kissed on their date on Wednesday.

"Yeah, he just acted like I was his best guy friend."

"I don't know what to say," Olivia said thoughtfully. "Bobby Goren is a weird one, everyone told you that to begin with," Olivia said as they walked to Casey's car after school.

"I know, but I was expecting a little more than to be ignored like this," Casey said, frustrated.

"Hey," Elliot said, catching up with Casey and Olivia as they walked to the parking lot. "How was school?" he asked as he kissed Olivia.

"Good," Olivia said, kissing him back with a smile.

"Case?" Elliot asked.

"It was okay I guess."

"Things not going well with Bobby?" he asked, holding Olivia's hand.

"No," Casey muttered.

"I think he just wants to be friends right now," Elliot said.

"Yeah, he made his point loud and clear," Casey snapped. "Sorry, El," she apologized a few moments later. "I'm just really frustrated because I really like him and he's just pretending like nothing is going on between us.

"Are you guys still on for the mall this weekend?" Olivia inquired.

"As far as I know, yeah," Casey said as she opened the passenger door for Olivia before walking to the driver's side to get in.

"Well," Elliot said. "Maybe this weekend, you never know. I'll see you later, Liv," Elliot said, kissing Olivia goodbye before continuing to his car.

"I'm glad things are going good for you guys," Casey said with a smile.

"Thanks," Olivia said with a smile as she looked out the window while Casey pulled out of the parking lot.

Casey pulled up to a stoplight and turned to her right, where Brian Cassidy was sitting in the driver's seat of a black Mercedes, his nose in a cast.

"Damn, how hard did you hit him?" Olivia asked when she noticed what Casey was staring at.

"Honestly, I really didn't mean to hit him, I was just angry and I guess the ball knew what I was angry at."

"Hm," Olivia said as the stoplight turned green and they continued to Casey's house.

Casey's cell phone ring pierced the silence between Olivia and Casey as they pulled into the driveway.

"Hello?" Casey answered casually, seeing that the caller was Bobby.

"Hey, Case, do you want to hang out tonight, see a movie or something?"

"I can't I'm busy," Casey said nonchalantly, looking at her nails as if they were as fascinating as an albino pigeon.

"Oh," Bobby said, a little bit surprised. "Are we still on for the mall on Sunday?"

"I guess, yeah," Casey said, getting frustrated. I mean, she had a right to be, right? He was sending her mixed signals.

"Um, okay, I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow," Bobby said, confused.

"Bye," Casey said quickly as she shut her phone.

"Who was that?" Olivia said once they reached Casey's room and flopped down on her bed.

"Bobby," Casey said, exasperated. "Wanted me to do something with him tonight but I told him I couldn't, then he wanted to know if we were still on for Sunday and I said I guess."

"You don't think you're being just a little harsh?" Olivia asked, concerned.

"No," Casey said firmly. "He's sending me mixed signals, and it's frustrating me."

"Maybe they aren't mixed signals," Olivia said thoughtfully. "Maybe he really and truthfully just wants a friend."

"Well if that's true," Casey said, pondering the thought for a moment. "He wouldn't be calling all of our 'get-togethers' dates."

"That's true," Olivia said, suddenly also confused by the situation. "Hey, we warned you it was Bobby Goren. No one ever said dating was easy, especially with Bobby. You should have been expecting the worst already."

"Good point," Casey said. "Maybe I'm just being a tad over dramatic. Who says we have to kiss by like the 4th date right?"

"Uh, yeah," Olivia said with a giggle.

"Shut up!" Casey said as Olivia dodged Casey's playful slap.

"Hey," Bobby's deep voice breathed into the phone.

"Hey," Casey said, her eyes fixated on the T.V.

"Are you mad at me?" Bobby immediately asked. "I can't help but think that you've been acting just a little hostile towards me lately."

"No, I'm not mad," Casey lied, feeling guilty for her immaturity. "It's been a stressful week."

"Yeah, I understand. So what are you doing?"

"Hm, watching a movie," Casey said.

"Which one?" Bobby asked.

"Scream."

"What's your favorite scary movie?" Bobby said, mocking the original line of the movie.

Casey laughed out loud. "Scream, what's yours?"

"The Shining."

"That's not scary," Casey said with a mock laugh.

"It's classified as a scary movie."

"Whatever," Casey said with an eye roll only she knew she was doing.

"So are we still on for the mall tomorrow?" Bobby pushed.

Casey pondered the thought for a moment, wondering if they would finally kiss, but brushed the thought away as she remember what Olivia had told her, she was content just being friends.

"Yeah, we are."

"Hello," Bobby said enthusiastically as Casey climbed into his truck on the early Sunday morning.

"Morning," Casey said, looking at the clock, which read 9:00 A.M.

Casey let out a big yawn as they pulled out of her neighborhood and onto the feeder, getting ready to get onto the highway.

"Tired?" Bobby asked.

"Uh huh," Casey muttered, closing her eyes. "Where exactly in Westchester is the mall?"

"Little outside of Amawalk."

"So like, an hour?"

"More or less, yes," Bobby said as they drove in silence.

The trip to the mall had remained silent for most of the time. For a while, Bobby had begun to think Casey was asleep until she would strike up small talk with him. When they finally arrived, Bobby lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"We're here," he said.

"It's so big," Casey said as they walked inside the outdoor mall and began to make their way down a sidewalk.

"Let's go in here," Casey said as she dragged Bobby into a department store. She found several things she liked, but none worth getting. "Next store," Casey said.

"Okay," Bobby said, following her out.

"Oh let's go in here!" Casey exclaimed as they entered another girlie department store.

Bobby rolled his eyes. As Casey looked through the racks of clothing, Bobby came up beside here.

"I have an idea."

"Mmmk, what's your idea?" Casey said, turning to look at him.

"You pick a store, then I'll pick a store, then you pick a store, then I'll pick one. That way I can avoid going into these stores repeatedly with you, and you won't have to go into my boring stores."

"No way!" Casey exclaimed. "I'm not giving up good shops because you don't want to wait with me." Casey said with a laugh.

"Fine then," Bobby said, walking to her other side to block her from walking. "When we get to the Discovery store all hell will break loose," and on that note, Bobby turned around to go look at something else.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Casey said, catching up to him.

Bobby smiled as he turned around. "Yes?" he said with his sneaky grin while Casey pouted.

"I like your idea," Casey said, linking arms with him as they walked out of the store.

Casey and Bobby went in and out of stores for the next hour, Casey buying various clothing items and Bobby buying his useless trinkets. Their opposite-ended personalities came in handy when shopping. Bobby knew whether or not a certain shirt looked good on Casey and Casey knew whether or not a certain shirt looked good on Bobby or not. It was good to have an outside opinion.

"It's my turn, right?" Bobby asked as they strolled down the sidewalk, hand in hand.

"Mmmhmmm," Casey said, looking at her nails.

"Let's go in here," Bobby said, indicating the Sony store to their left.

They stepped inside and began to look at the various lap tops and other electronic devices.

"Look at this," Casey said, playing with a stereo system which was clear so you could see all of the electronic wires inside.

"Well look at this," Bobby said, holding a cell phone that plays music videos when someone calls.

"Weird," Casey said as she linked fingers with Bobby again and they began to walk out of the store.

"Hmm, now I get to choose," Casey said with a smirk on her face. "Oh! I choose this store!" Casey exclaimed, pulling Bobby into Victoria's secret.

"This is so awkward," Bobby said, trying to keep his eyes off of anything sexual, which at the moment was solely the floor. When he looked up, Casey was examining the makeup stand.

"This tastes so good," Casey said, trying on a lip-gloss called 'Sweet Talk'. "It takes like sugar. Want to try?" Casey asked, holding out the tube.

Bobby leaned into Casey as he placed a hand on the back of her head. He closed the distance between them and planted a small and gentle kiss on Casey's lips. When he pulled away, he almost laughed at the stunned look Casey held, still holding the lip-gloss tube out with her right hand.

"Tastes great," Bobby said with a smile.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Same 

A/N: Same

"So," Olivia said as she settled back into Casey's bedpost while filing her nails. "Tell me everything."

"Well," Casey said, beginning to giggle. "I, um, well we um, we went to the mall."

"Uh yeah, I knew that much before you guys left. Move on," Olivia said, smiling at Casey's giddiness.

"We just looked in all these stores in stuff and then we came to Victoria's Secret. And you know this 'Sweet Talk' lip gloss tubes?"

"Yeah, they taste like sugar," Olivia said, biting at one of her nails.

"Yeah well, I tried it on and asked him if he wanted to because it tasted good. Then he leaned in and kissed me. Then he said it tasted great."

"Oh Casey that's so cute!" Olivia said, setting the nail file on her nightstand.

"I know," Casey said, turning red and clinging to a throw pillow.

"This is so retarded," Casey said, glancing around the bus station, refusing to meet Olivia's eyes.

"I'll be fine, Case, really. Fall break is only a week long. You'll only be at camp for a week. I'll probably just hang out with Lexi E."

"You sure?" Casey said as she placed a hand on Olivia's shoulder. In the 2 months she had known Olivia they had become close friends and felt bad for leaving her at camp for a week. She couldn't believe her mom had made her do this.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Olivia said, pulling her jacket a bit tighter as the wind picked up. It was evident that November was only a week away.

"God damn Alex C.'s mom for calling my mom and recommending this camp," Casey muttered.

"Hey, Case," Liv said, her eyes lightening. "It could be worse. At least you'll be with Alex C. instead of all alone. And Bobby will be at Camp Jackson for boys just across Shadow Lake. That'll be a ton of fun."

"I know," Casey said, actually thinking about the positive things about going to camp.

"Hey Case! Hey Liv!" Alex C. said as she ran up, tugging her Prada and Louis Vuitton duffel bags.

"Hey," Case said, glancing down at her large black Adidas duffel bag. "You do realize that we're only going to be at camp for a week right?" Casey said, looking at Alex's bags. "And we have to wear a uniform during the day?"

"Duh, silly. This stuff is for after hours," Alex said with a wink. "You know, Bobby and Brian are across the lake."

"Brian Cassidy?" Casey and Olivia sputtered simultaneously.

Casey thought back to how she had horridly broken his nose just a month earlier. 'I wonder how they'll get along,' she thought.

"Oh right," Alex cringed. "You broke his nose in 3 places."

"Yeah," Casey said shyly, yet with a hint of pride.

"Now boarding bus 23 for Camp Honey Wheat!" the lady with the bullhorn yelled.

"Camp Honey Wheat?" Olivia laughed. "Sounds like a cereal," she smirked.

"Shut up," Casey said, giving Olivia a playful glare.

"We better get going," Alex C. said, tugging Casey's sleeve. "Have a good Fall Break, hun," she said to Olivia with a hug.

"See ya," Casey said, giving her a hug.

"Bye guys," Olivia said, pulling her mother's car keys out of her pocket and heading to her car.

"Three of spades," Casey said with an exasperated sigh.

"Go fish," Alex said, folding her cards over. "I quit."

Casey began to laugh as the bus took a right onto a dirt road after a tall woman with short dark hair unlocked the gate and waved them on.

"This must be it," Alex said, pointing to a wooden sign with white writing that read 'CaMp HoNeY wHeAt'.

"That's mature," Casey smirked, looking at the funny lower-case and capital writing that spelled out 'Camp Honey Wheat'.

"Yeah," Alex laughed. "As if the name's not enough they've got to go and write it like a 3-year old."

They passed horse stables and a field with several horses. They drove for about another quarter of a mile until she could see the lake with many cabins dispersed along the lake. In the distance she could see other cabins on the other end of the lake, the boys' camp she assumed. Bobby had taken his cell phone with him and so had she, despite the camps' rules. If she had to attend the stupid camp, she might as well make the most of it.

She gazed at the shore of the lake as the late morning wind forced the water splash against the row of about 20 canoes.

"Ready?" Alex asked, collecting her duffel bags from the overhead compartment and handing Casey hers.

"Yeah, let's go," Casey said, walking in line with the other girls. Casey's hair whipped in her face as the wind nearly blew her over. "Gross," Casey muttered as she pulled her hair into a lose bun to keep it out of her face.

"Names please?" a camp counselor asked as she approached them with a clipboard.

"Alex Cabot, and this is Casey Novak," Alex said, adjusting the strap of her purse to fit over her shoulder.

"Cabin 15," the counselor responded with a smile. "Right over there," she said, pointing to a cabin that was built on water with a bridge connecting the cabin to the ground.

"This is so cool," Alex said as they walked across the bridge to the cabin.

"Yeah," Casey said, careful not to step between the cracks of the splintered wood.

Two other girls already sat on their bunks talking when Casey and Alex walked in and set their bags down on bunks in the corner.

"I want bottom," Casey said.

"Fine by me," Alex said, looking around. "Are there no counselors in the cabins?" she asked a blonde girl talking with a brown-haired girl on a top bunk as several more girls walked in.

"Nope," the girl said shaking her head. Alex's face lit up as she turned back to look at Casey, whose eyes had also lit up. "Bobby!" she whispered to her.

"I know," Casey nodded with a smile.

"Do you guys have boyfriends at the camp across the lake?" the brunette girl asked, confused.

"I do, but she doesn't," Casey responded, pointing to Alex.

"But this guy whose really hot is over there also," Alex said, a gleam in her eyes.

"It's super easy to sneak out at night if you have a boyfriend," the blonde girl said.

"Why's that?" Casey asked.

"The boy's camp don't lock their canoes at night," the blonde girl said.

"Oh," Alex said, pondering the possibilities. "I'm Alex Cabot by the way. And this is my friend, Casey Novak."

"I'm Serena," the blonde girl said. "Serena Southerlyn. And this is my friend Alex Borgia."

"Nice to meet you," Alex Borgia said.

"You too," Casey said with a smile.

"All girls, report to the mess hall for lunch after you've changed into your warm-ups and sweatshirts laid for you on each of your beds," came a voice over the intercom in their cabin. And please see Counselor McKate for a copy of what each group will be doing today. That is all."

"How do we know which group we're in?" Alex asked curiously as Serena and Alex Borgia jumped down from the top bunk and began to slip on the green sweatpants and white sweatshirt with a green 'Camp Honey Wheat' logo in the corner.

"Your group is your cabin number. We're all in group 15."

"Cool," Casey said, looking at her phone screen when she and Alex had finished changing into their uniforms.

'One new text message,' it read. 'From: Bobby. Message: hey, just got to jacks. did u kno brian c. is here? he wants to meet up w/ alex 2nite n i want 2 meet up w/ u. is that ok or awkward 4 u?'

'thats fine,' casey messaged back. 'call u 2nite around 9.'

Casey closed her phone and walked to the door where the other girls waited.

"Was that Bobby?" Alex C. asked as they walked across the bridge and towards the mess hall.

"Yeah, Brian wants to meet up with you tonight so I told him I'd call him later tonight so we could talk more about it."

"Really?" Alex looked at her disbelievingly. "I mean, Brian really wants to meet up with me?"

"Yeah, he does, really," Casey said. "I'll show you the text message when we get back."


End file.
